Day 3 - Midsommar
So, this was one of the big days that I had been looking forward to for my whole trip - the Swedish Midsommar!
The Swedish Midsommar is a festival dating back to the
old Pagan days celebrating the longest day of the year.
The Christians did come in and try to change its meaning, turning it into a day dedicated to St Paul, as he was
allegedly born 6 months before Jesus (ala Christmas
Day), but the Swedes only paid lip service and mostly kept on celebrating the sun.
I awoke and toddled downstairs to grab a coffee and prepare myself to face the day.
The previous night, I had established that Floki and Loki were twin brothers, and I had been informed that
morning that Loki had returned after we headed off to
bed.
I knew that Floki had a large beard, but was unsure
whether Loki had let his grow while riding his motor bike around Europe, or if he had a different style of facial hair.
Not having met Loki, and seeing ONE of them in the
kitchen, with great hesitation and a rising tone I asked
“Floki?”
Fortunately, I got it correct, as Loki came out from his bedroom at this point in time, sporting a Kurt-Russell-in-Tombstone moustache and goatee.
We did an introduction, grabbed the coffee I had sought,
stepped outside to have a bit of a chat, and came up with a list of things that needed to be prepared before the feast
at lunch time.
I was intrigued that he turned to me with the list, but it
was later explained that I had done such a sterling job the day before that these tasks weren’t being heaped onto me - I was being brought into the fold and included in all of the family preparations.
We had some others arrive in the morning (Aslaug 2 and Heinz from the night at the pub included), and being an
Australian, I was delegated the task of cooking up the
sausages on the bbq.
Not the cheap Woolworth’s pork snags (a supermarket in Australia for the uninitiated), but some very tasty
Scandinavian sausages.
We sat around the table eating our sausages, salads, and
potatoes.
Allow me to digress back to something I neglected to
mention from yesterday regarding the potatoes.
Given that there were to be 40 of us, that left a lot of
potatoes to be prepared. In order to do so, we had to soak them in water to wash off the dirt, and then remove part
of the skin for cooking.
Off the back of a youtube video, we rigged up a device to make this process much easier.
It required a power drill, and a cut off toilet brush.
I know, I know. Sounds nuts.
But it worked amazingly well and we had some potatoes
perfectly prepared to for our lunch.
Following lunch, and washing the dishes, we got changed into our good clothes and proceeded to head to the local
green, or park, where people from the area were gathering to dance and sing around the Maypole.
We arrived at 3pm, which was when we were told the Maypole would be raised, but it was already up when we
arrived.
Not a problem - it was a great looking area.
The size of a football field, around 300-400 people standing around in their finest, with a young
lady and 2 guys standing at the base of the Maypole with a guitar and amp.
Groups of all ages were gathered around, awaiting the
commencement of the ceremony.
Now, I’m sure a bit will be lost in translation, as I don’t
speak a word of Swedish, but the people hosting the
Midsommar event started speaking over a microphone,
and the great majority of people gathered together into a
circle. The guy on the guitar started strumming, and the
girl and other guy took it in turns to run people through
dances and songs.
There was a dance and song about the pig with no ears,
doing the washing, evil fairies and elves, and several
others.
I had A2 and Heinz translating for me, as well as a
random older lady next to me in the circle letting me
know what was being said, and what to do to take part.
Since it was 29 degrees, the two Aslaugs (A1 & A2), Heinz and myself excused ourselves from the circle, and had a
breather in the shade for a while.
At the end of the gathering, everybody formed snaking
lines where they went back and forth across the field,
until they were mustered in rows 16 abreast, facing the
Swedish flag and they all sung the national anthem.
Following this, the children (of all ages) were called
forwards to grab an ice cream, and people started to
disperse back to their own houses for an evening of
frivolity.
I was walking back with A1’s father, Pa, and we passed 2
girls taking photos of each other in front of the Maypole.
I offered to take a photo of both of them (as they had
heard Pa and I speaking English and commented on it,
them being from America) and they reciprocated, with
several amusing shots being taken.
Arriving back at the house, the beers were broken out,
and the children decided to jump onto the flying fox that
Loki had set up for his children. I decided that I didn’t
want to miss out on the action (Heinz, Pa Thursten and I
were standing around chatting), so I told them that I
would prove to them that the adults would be able to use
the flying fox.
I climbed up to the tree house with Loki’s daughter, sat
myself on the seat attachment for the flying fox, and
launched myself away. It was great fun... until my
backside started dragging across the ground half way
to the end of the line.
I was still obscured by the house from where the other
3 guys were standing, so I used my legs to propel my
2-inches-above-the-ground posterior towards the end,
to the amusement of the others.
After a couple more drinks and laughs, dinner was
approaching, so I made myself useful to Lagertha,
and with the help of a few others we served dinner
up for all.
It was extremely tasty - there was plenty of salmon,
salads, more potatoes (I told you we had to prepare a
lot of them) and pickled herrings.
I had been told to prepare myself for the herring - I
had no idea what to expect, but I thoroughly enjoyed
them. I’m not a big fish eater, but these were very
tasty. They came in 4 different sauces, and everybody
was watching with bated breath as I tried each one.
I even got A2 to take a video of me trying them for the
first time, and everybody gave me a cheer when I ate
the pickled herrings. They were happy - a lot of them
don’t enjoy the herrings themselves.
Dinner commenced with Loki welcoming everybody,
telling us all to keep our schnapps glasses full
throughout the dinner, and got us all ready to sing our
first song.
It was all in Swedish, so I have no idea what we were
really singing, although I knew a few of the tunes.
Throughout dinner, there were several more songs and
shots (each song was followed by some schnapps), and
after a wee after-dinner-break the cake was served.
It was exquisite, and I have Aslaug 1, her mother and
potentially one or two others to thank for that.
It was a light and fluffy cake, with a beautiful vanilla
cream between layers, and a strawberry layer as well.
Mmm-mmmmm.
Following dinner, it was time for the feats of strength,
or games where a winner was chosen for this year’s
Midsommar.
The first game involved pairing up and tossing a water
balloon to each other - the longer the pair stayed in,
the more points you got.
I was paired up with Loki and Lagertha’s son, and we
made it through to the third last toss - probably 75%
of people were out by this stage, and it was me who
let us down.
After this, there were 2 activities going on at the same
time - a jigsaw puzzle race, and using a slingshot and
marbles to knock down a stack of beer cans.
I was the first to use the sling shot, and never having
used one before I didn’t get a single can down.
When my turn at the jigsaw puzzle came, I was
against Lagertha and one of the little ones. I started up
a bit of banter with Lagertha, and, well, karma came a
calling.
Lagertha finished her puzzle in 22 seconds - the best
time so far.
It took me 2 minutes 10 seconds to finish mine, the
slowest time out of everybody there, so I should
probably learn to keep my mouth shut.
In fairness, Lagertha had the easiest of the 3 puzzles,
but she had a go at mine and managed to finish it in
57 seconds.
After the games, the Pingers (ping pong table) was
utilised heartily by many others, while I sat around
the table and chatted.
After being such a warm day, the weather fluctuated
between raining, muggy, rinse and repeat, so those
that were in for the long haul congregated under the
veranda.
I broke out the ukulele that I had bought in Helsingborg,
and played a few songs for people, doing a bit of spoken
word as my singing voice is not 100% reliable.
Heinz asked Lagertha’s daughter if he could make use of
her guitar, and he played a few songs. We started taking it
in turns, and then we played several songs together.
The adults that were still up thoroughly enjoyed our
impromptu music session, and we continued drinking
until 4 in the morning.
I would say until the sun went up, but since the light only
diminished to a twilight glow, the sun didn’t really go
down.
The Midsommar festival was sooooo much fun. If you
ever get invited to one in Sweden (or anywhere around
the world for that matter) please make the most of the
opportunity.
It was a superb amount of fun, and you won’t be
disappointed if you get the chance to take part.
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